CallItWhatYouWant
by Judge-Douglas-Mason
Summary: Jim and Sara try new things


Disclaimer: Nope, not mine. Wish they were, but they're not. Que Sera Sera

-------------------Call It What You Want ------------------------------------

Call it love, call it lust or call it what you want. I've tried to think it over in my head a thousand times and there's a part of me that loves her and there's another part of me that just wants to rip her clothes from her and ravage her body. However, the gentleman in me just admires her from afar, wishing she was mine. I know she has a thing for Grissom and that's why I've stayed away from her for so long, but to have witnessed her argument with him today, I think I might have a chance. It can't hurt to try, can it? Sure, she could say no, but there's the off chance that she might say yes. But where and when to ask her?  
Should I ask her inside the lab or outside, in the lot, on her way to her car. Maybe I should just call her cell and do it that way. That way I can't read her body language or watch her fiddle with her clothes. Its an easier out to call someone; almost like sending an e-mail. Its less personal and there's a sort of freedom to pace back and forth or take some time to think about what you want to say before you say it. I think I'll do it that way, then; I'll send her an e-mail.

(End of First Person Dialogue)

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Just having arrived home, Sara sat at her desk and checked her e-mail. There were several from the team members and a couple from Grissom. There was also one from an unfamiliar address; BearlyThere. She opened it and read the message Apparently she had a secret admirer that wanted to have breakfast with her. She replied to the mail, saying that she had no idea who this person was and that she had a very busy schedule and couldn't possibly entertain an invitation from a total stranger. She hit the "send" icon and within a matter of minutes she had another mail from this mystery man. The mail stated that this person did, in fact, know her and provided several forms of proof. He also suggested that they meet in a public place to put her at ease. Her reply was that she'd think about it and get back to him later as she already had plans for after shift. This seemed to placate the person as he sent no reply.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Sara had just arrived at the lab when she saw Jim coming out of the break room. She walked into the locker room and placed her backpack in her locker and sat on the bench for a few moments before Jim came to stand in the doorway, his arms crossed and tapping the toe of his foot on the floor. He watched her for a few moments before announcing his presence in the form of him clearing his throat. Sara looked up and saw Jim standing there, watching her with a far off look in his eyes. She smiled at him and stood up, approaching him. In passing, she clapped him on the shoulder and chuckled.

"I have a strange feeling about tonight. I think its gonna be a mess. See you later, Jim."

She walked down the hall and into the break room and took a seat on the couch where she picked up a magazine and began to read about outdoor living. She had some vacation time coming and she meant to take it in the woods. She had a friend that owned a cabin in the woods near Tahoe and since these past few weeks had proven to be exceptionally stressful, she got up and went down to Human Resources to fill out paperwork for vacation time. On her way back to the break room she passed Jim in the hall. She had a giddy sort of look on her face and as she passed him she just gave him a goofy grin. Seeing this, he asked her what she was grinning about.

"In a couple of weeks I'm taking a two week holiday in the woods. Just me and the deer and little birdies." she stated

"Well, no one deserves a vacation more than you. You've been busting your ass for as long as you've been here and haven't taken a day off once. So, you deserve it. I hope you have a good time." he replied

"You're welcome to join me if you like. Companionship would be well welcomed." she said

"Are you sure? I mean, spending two weeks in the woods with me won't be any picnic. You know how I get cranky when there's nothing to do." he said

"Its up to you." she said as she passed him and carried on down the hall

In the break room she picked up the magazine she was reading before and sat contentedly on the couch as the rest of the team began to file in. For half an hour they all sat around the conference table drinking coffee and grabbing a bite while they could before Grissom came in with the slips. Sara was right, in that it was going to be a messy night. There were dead bodies for all; some of them floaters, some of them week old decomps and the rest of the lot were just plain nasty. The only one that wasn't a mess was a hanging that Nick got. As for Sara, she got a scene in which there were three dead bodies sitting around a poker table in someone's garage.

When she arrived, the bodies were fresh and smelly. There was blood all over the place and footprints to match. It took her the better part of the evening to process the scene to completion. By the time she had left her scene and returned to the lab it was almost end of shift and she was dog tired from taking all the photos, collecting all the evidence and processing what proved to be a very messy scene. All three were shot, one in the back of the head and the other two in the face. It looked as if someone had come into the garage and shot the one with his back to the garage door and the other two that were facing him got it in the face. There was no noise to speak of, no loud sound of gunfire. They were discovered by the wife of the owner of the house; the one that got it in the back of the head. She had been questioned as to the circumstances of her finding the bodies. Needless to say, she was less than pleased to be ejected from her home while it remained a crime scene, but she had no choice and shouted curses at Sara as she left the house with all the evidence.

She dropped her evidence off in one of the evidence lockers and took a shower. It was a hot night and she was covered in sweat and wanted to cleanse herself. In the ladies shower room she scrubbed herself clean and was startled when she heard Jim's voice. For some reason she didn't bother to cover up as she turned to face him. He covered his eyes and as she asked him for a towel, he reached for the first thing his fingers touched and handed it to her. When she laughed, he uncovered his eyes to see Sara holding a washcloth. She turned off the spray and approached him. He couldn't help but watch her as she grabbed a proper sized towel and wrapped it around herself. He stood out of sight as she dried herself and dressed and when she was done he stepped from behind the row of lockers to issue an invitation.

"You wanna grab something to eat?" he asked

"Sure. Just let me grab my pack and we can go." she replied

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

At Jim's place he was cooking vegetarian stir-fry while Sara was sitting on the couch watching the news. There was nothing good on any of the other channels and since she didn't want to get engrossed in an actual programme, she settled on the news. About halfway through the show Jim stated that breakfast was ready. She got up and brought her coffee to the kitchen table and sat down across from Jim. The meal was delicious; she had no idea he was such a fabulous cook.

When the meal was over, Sara was even more tired than she was when she left the lab. However, when Jim offered her the guest room she declined, stating she preferred her bed. She thanked Jim for the meal and the company and left for her apartment.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Having just arrived home, Sara closed the door behind herself and went straight to bed; not even bothering to check her e-mail. She was exceedingly tired and as her head hit the pillow she very nearly instantly fell asleep.

When she woke later that day and checked her e-mail there was another mail from BearlyThere. He was issuing another meal invitation and since his previous offer made mention of meeting in a public place she agreed. She explained about her work schedule and in a reply mail he said he knew her schedule and would wait for her at end of shift in front of the lab.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Sitting in the locker room, in front of her locker, Sara made sure she had her mace readily accessible in the event she might need it. She grabbed her pack and walked outside only to find Jim sitting in his car waiting for her. Surprised, she climbed in the passenger seat and buckled up and setting her pack on the floor of the car between her feet. Looking at him, she grinned.

"I guess I won't need my mace." she said, chuckling

"God, I'd hope not. At least not for me, that is." he replied

They drove to a little place that Jim liked to go to when he needed to clear his head; a park near his house. He removed a picnic basket from the trunk of his car and a blanket for them to sit on. The looks from Sara were priceless. She had a combination of looks on her face like she was surprised and confused at the same time. As Jim laid the blanket out on the grass, he looked up at Sara and grinned.

"I said a public place, and this place is public; it just happens that we're the only people here a the moment. We have a full blown vegetarian picnic here. We've got fruit salad, some Ambrosia that I made last night, some Watergate salad and fresh squeezed orange juice. So, dig in." he said

Sara made short work of a some fruit salad and some of Jim's fresh made Watergate salad. She loved pistachios and coconut and marshmallows. She knew from the previous day's meal that Jim was a good cook, but this was the living end; he was truly multi-talented. They sat on the cliche red and white checkered blanket and ate their meal under a rather large tree that they used for shade. When they were done eating they stayed beneath the tree and talked about work and their personal lives; as far as their personal lives went, given their occupations. This was a time for them to get to know each other outside work. They knew what the other was like when they were on the job, but as to after the shift was over; neither of them really knew. And low and behold, they had a lot in common. Point in fact, they had so much in common it was scary; even the ice hockey. However, Sara didn't like to play as Jim did, she preferred to watch and heckle the players.

As the hours dragged on and they realized just how late it was getting, they packed up and instead of dropping Sara off at her apartment, Jim took her back to his place because it was closer and he'd noticed that she was starting to drop off during their conversation. He figured that she'd be too tired if he dropped her at the lab and then she'd have to drive home. This way she could use his guest room and they both could get some sleep. However, when they got back into Jim's car, Sara insisted on being dropped off at the lab so she could pick up her car and drive home. Jim was insistent upon taking her back to his place, but Sara would not be dissuaded.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Just as she walked in her front door the phone rang and she rushed to pick it up. It was Jim calling to make sure she got home in one piece. She thought it was sweet of him to make sure she was alright. She thought that if he was like this and they were only friends, what would he be like if Sara decided to step up their relationship a notch. She had thought of Jim a lot in recent months and had taken note of her bodily reactions to his presence when she would see or hear him. When she saw him, her palms would sweat, her heart would race and she would get a sort of tunnel vision, seeing no one but him. When she heard him, she inadvertently tuned everyone else out, she'd get the "WaWa" effect in her ears and sometimes she'd even go a little lightheaded. There were also the times when she'd get knots in her stomach when she'd see or hear him. She didn't have these reactions when Grissom was about and it was for this reason that she had loosely invited Jim to join her on her upcoming vacation. However, to the best of her knowledge he hadn't filled out any leave forms and had no intention of accompanying her when she left. This made her a bit sad because she desperately wanted someone with her and to be more specific, she wanted Jim to be with her. As far as she was concerned, Grissom could go the way of the Dodo; he was a lost cause and Sara would spend no more time pining for him.

Then there was Jim; considerate, cordial, gentlemanly, witty, brilliant and sexy in his own way. True, he wasn't considered a hottie by the female population at large, but in his own way he was very attractive to her. The way he wore his suits, the way he walked, the way he would swipe his butt without even thinking about it, the way he flexed his digits on his left hand and those priceless looks he'd give during interrogations or when he was trying to comprehend something or just because. But more than anything else, she loved two things about him; his butt when he wore jeans and the way his face showed signs of years of thinking, the proof evident on his brow line. When he'd think about something really hard, his forehead would wrinkle up and his eyes seemed to become a brighter shade of their already brilliant shade of blue. As for Jim, she had no idea what he saw in her. Maybe he just liked her body, maybe her mind, but one thing was for certain, they were truly compatible. All these things ran through her mind as Jim was speaking and when he asked if she was still there, all she could do was mumble a vague "Uh-huh". Truth be told, she hadn't really heard a thing he had said because she was too busy thinking about his finer points and how her body would react to him and his presence. In mid sentence, she interrupted him by saying "Goodnight" and reluctantly hung up. In all reality, she wished he were there to share her bed with her; not for the sex, but more for the companionship of sleeping beside another warm body.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

No matter how hard or how much he tried to sleep that morning, Jim just couldn't get his winks. So, grabbing his car keys, he did what he usually did. He climbed into his car and drove around until he eventually found himself in front of Sara's apartment complex. He exited his vehicle and climbed the stairs to her door. He didn't believe that she was really asleep, he thought it was just a way to get off the phone. He knocked and waited, but no one answered. He knocked again and waited some more before reaching up above the door and grasping the spare key. He let himself in and just as he walked through the front door Sara came down the hall in her bathrobe. Both of them startled, but she more than he, they just stood there for a few seconds before Jim explained himself.

"I couldn't sleep. I tried, but I just can't seem to fall asleep."

"So why'd you come here?" she asked

"Hoping for a little companionship; thought that might help." he replied

After a moment of awkward silence, Sara gave a lopsided grin.

"Well, climb on in. But if you grope me, you get a black eye. Understood?"

"Understood."

He followed her to the bedroom and climbed under the covers with her and rolled over onto his side. Much to his surprise, Sara scooted up behind him and wrapped her left arm around his waist. Was this considered groping, he wondered. He wasn't sure, so he just went with it. He rested his hand atop hers and surprisingly fell asleep within the half hour.

When Sara woke several hours later she felt a certain amount of weight on her stomach. She was on her back and Jim was on his stomach with his arm draped across her stomach. She wondered to herself if this constituted groping and decided that it didn't. Maybe he always slept that way; sprawled out across the bed. It was nearly time for the alarm to go off and Sara tried to switch it off without disturbing Jim. She carefully reached for the bedside table and took the cord to the clock between her thumb and index fingers, drawing it closer to her. When it was sufficiently close, she switched it off and slid out of bed to use the bathroom. When she had finished her business she padded into the kitchen in nothing but her sleep shorts and tank top to make a pot of coffee. While the coffee was brewing, she scooped up Jim's clothes from the floor and took them, along with the other dirty clothes, and put them in the wash. She closed the bedroom door so the noise wouldn't wake Jim and went about her pre-shift routine. She packed a lunch for herself and sat in front of the tellie so she could watch the news.

When Jim woke, it was to an empty bed and a closed bedroom door. In his boxers and tank top, he climbed out of bed and went into the living room to find Sara on the couch watching the news with her police scanner running in the background. By the sound of things the dryer was running and Jim supposed that Sara was doing the wash,, and by the absence of his clothes from the bedroom floor, he figured she was washing his clothes. He thought this very considerate of her, but at the same time, how was he going to get his gym bag from the trunk of his car. He always kept a spare change of clothes in his trunk in the event that he had to pull a double or his primary set had been dirtied. He kept two bags in his trunk; one, the gym bag and the other was a hanging garment bag that had an extra suit in it. It had been so long since he'd looked in the garment bag; he had no idea which suit was in it. After a moment, Jim went back into the bedroom and grabbed an oversized t-shirt, put it on and went down to his car and grabbed both bags from the trunk. When he returned, Sara looked up at him and smiled.

"You come prepared, huh?" she asked

"Yeah, well, you never know what's gonna happen." he said as he set the gym bag down and hung the garment bag from the bedroom door

Looking down at his watch, Jim noted that he had just enough time to shower, shave and dress before it was time to go in. In the bathroom he was showering when the door opened slowly and Sara popped her head in. Jim peeled back the curtain to look at her and smiled.

"Your clothes are dry. You goin' casual or in a suit?" she asked

"I think I'll go casual. I've got my gym bag on the bed."

"Ok. When you're done in the shower, leave the water on so I can take one?"

As Jim finished up his shower he could hear movement in the bedroom. He wrapped a towel around his waist and opened the bathroom door. Poking his head out, he saw Sara picking out her clothes for the shift.

"I'm done. Hop in." he said

Sara went into the bathroom, stripped and began her shower while Jim stood in front of the mirror and shaved. He was trying something new as of late. He'd overheard Sara mention to Nick how much she liked a goatee on a man, so he was growing one. By the time Sara had finished her shower Jim had just lathered up his face and was about to shave. Sara saw this and asked if she could do it. She didn't know why, but she'd always wanted to shave a man. She wrapped a towel around her chest and took the straight edge razor from Jim and carefully began to shave him in slow, short strokes. When she was done, she took a wet washcloth and wiped the excess shaving gel from his face. Looking at him, she smiled.

"You know, you look really good with facial hair. You should keep it." she said as she drew the final stroke

"Well, that's what I'm trying to do. I heard you talking to Nick a couple of weeks ago and decided to try it out." he explained

When Sara was done, she went into the bedroom with Jim and dressed. They dressed with their backs to each other, but Jim could see her in the mirror; God, she looked great naked. When they were done, she was wearing khaki slacks and blue a long sleeved shirt and he was wearing nearly the same thing, except his shirt was black. Time was growing short and as they left her apartment for the lab Jim jockeyed through traffic so he could drop her off at the lab before shift and he could get to the precinct in time to start his own shift.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

In the break room, Sara sat on the couch and thought about her upcoming vacation time. She would leave in just under two weeks and spend two weeks in the woods, at a lodge that a friend owned. It was a nice two story cabin in the middle of the woods with a nice stream running through the property and a very nice screened in porch.

After about an hour Grissom came in with the slips for the evening and handed them out. By sheer luck, everyone got their own scene this night and when Sara arrived at hers she was greeted by Jim who rattled off the facts as they stood at that moment.

"Two dead bodies. Husband and wife. Looks like a B&E. There's blood everywhere and no one saw or heard a thing."

"Is that all?" she asked

"No. I think I'll be taking you up on your offer of joining you on holiday." he said

"Good. It'd be nice to have some company. You filled out your forms, then?"

"Yup." was his simple answer

Sara processed her scene and after a few hours she returned to the lab to go over everything she'd collected from the house. She sent her photo card to Archie in the A/V Lab, the blood samples to DNA and the clothing and other objects to trace. While she was waiting for results of any kind she sat in the break room eating her lunch.

When shift was over, Sara sat outside waiting for Jim to pick her up and just as she was about to call him he rolled into the lot and came to a stop in front of where she was sitting. She got up and climbed in the passenger seat. Jim turned to her and grinned.

"So, your place or mine?"


End file.
